The smaller Chinook by Syma is a sure-thing buy, folks.

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Nice pics - I'm going to get one of these tomorrow...the only question is; will it be this one or it's bigger 46cm brother..the shop has both in stock. Need to ponder this tonight but I'm leaning towards the bigger one

Steve

Oh, if I could trust myself with one...

After dinner, I'll get some more pics up:
The insides of the baby Chinook, what you'd see if you took yours all apart, what my harebrained opinions of what I saw are...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAQf2qswASU

Bulk of pics removed, 12-31
Thought I forgot this? It hated being photographed or something...I had to sort through a LOT of duds.
I'll try more today in better conditions. But for now, here's a brief look at the SIMPLE guts of a seemingly complex machine.

FEW RC versions of truly Heroic Machines do the original justice by being rugged, trouble-free objects that can serve a purpose transparently.

These work so well, I feel ashamed of doing a dis-assembly on one.
This one's a marvel of our time and capabilities, folks.
Music for a Downed Warrior

blade runner blues - vangelis (9 min 41 sec)

Come back later for more on this awesome RC value.

..Serious flight reviews would be +ve, he said.

Gosh, I retired from Serious in 2007, but I'll do my best to keep a straight face.

The Syma S026 Chinook (always capitalize that!) Flight Review
by Kill Bucket
(pronounced: "Boo-Kay")

FEW RC creations can claim success like the Syma S026 Chinook.
Seemingly complex, but essentially simple in construction, the S026 does what it was designed to do in an elegantly understated way. Impressed, I ordered myself five more in the first week I had it.

It has no gyro. With two counter-rotating blade sets, stability is astounding for a rotor-craft lacking this artificial stabilization.
Even with trim intentionally set to full, rotation on axis is smooth, and not a spin, ever. If a gyroscope were to be installed, it could possibly qualify as dead weight.

Taking off, the Chinook literally springs from the ground, especially if you're used to small 3-channel coaxials, and are expecting a lot of weight.
The S026 weighs 45.9 g, that's only 6g more than a Syma S107. On a '107, each blade pair lifts 20g; the S026: a mere 11.
It looks Hot Dog, but it goes Hot Rod.

Control is solid and very confidence inspiring. Stable hover is a given, and small trim buttons on the transmitter alter forward/back balance much like the nose L/R trims we usually see, and this is also on the unit, but in knob form. Due to their convenient placement, they allow you to inch the craft forward or back, and the nose trim's location between the sticks is easy to adjust if it's ever needed. I was happy to realize I wasn't touching them at all, even running 3 copters on the one transmitter. That's Quality Control. Hat's off, Syma.

Power available is more than enough- and forward flight is as fast or slow as you wish. Unlike other 3-channel layouts, a tandem uses the main rotors for forward movement entirely. Instead of being leaned into flight by a small tail rotor, and then slowing as momentum is lost, the S026 can actually accelerate forward. And backward, too. Braking and rearward flight are crisp and controlled, not a bob-bob-reverse show.

Dancing-wise, this is your Aunt, not your cousin. It favors an alert pilot, but it is not a corner-carver. The long body results in a large moment of inertia, direction changes are much slower and smoother than say, a 9808.
Trying to zip it back and forth about the room can be a fun pastime, but misses the purpose: Flying it in a realistic manner is more rewarding than almost any other small helicopter, and is as simple as coasting along. If your first passion is military, then helicopter, the Syma S026 for you. It's very easy to imagine a fire crew popping up out of hiding and making a beeline for the ramp as you touch down on the coffee table, and then lift off in the classic movie shot- straight up, spiral 90 deg, and shoot away!


Because it almost never gets out of shape ("Aircraft Upset"), it would make an ideal first helicopter for anybody. You can be sure it will give a great first impression of our hobby. The high detail level lends itself well to scale modifications, and we can bet on seeing some very realistic examples from hobbyists.

It works without issue, it makes for a very pleasant user experience.
Like your Aunt, it bounces well, crashes are un-eventful. Need for spares should be seldom, if ever. This is not a mech's aircraft- it has few parts, and 'improving it' would be a feat.

The Chinook can lift its own weight +14g with a full charge.

Great review, KB. Will definitely get one of these, no matter what others I buy.

I'm surprised at how little 'guts' there actually are in this beauty - but that's good as it means there's less to go wrong.

Steve

As an "early adopter," I bought the original non-pivoting blade version almost a year ago. I actually crashed it several times (mostly trying to land in tight quarters, probably due to ground effect) and I found that the paint chips/nicks pretty easily. The nice flat finish is not so nice with white plastic showing through. I do agree that careful flying should minimize crashes and apparently the new rotor setup is more stable.

And it's molded from green plastic now, YAY!

Thanks for going through being one of the first!

I saw the pics in some ads of those earlier versions, and had my finger crossed on getting the 'modern" ones. Three are here so far, should see another today or tomorrow, two more by weeks' end.

I wanna Gloss Black one, maybe put a big white Playboy Bunny Logo on it,

in honor of Hef's old DC-9.

Wow, so they pretty much fixed all the flaws. The tinted windows are also a nice touch (the original had clear). I may order a new one and repaint the old shell as the NASA 737 version (white with blue side stripe).

I have one of these, but it came DOA, unfortunately. Very cool looking little heli and built nicely. XHeli is sending me another though.

...must...not...click...order...the bigger CH by Syma is highly recommended by the little CH's...S022...must...not...

New S022 3ch Chinook (1 min 22 sec)

I do not want to move up, as it is said, but ohhhhh, this is a cool thing even if it sits there.
hehee...I can get just the body,
use some old blades and rotor parts, build a pretty nice static model on the CHEAP.

Fiddy-fife dollahs shipped, bro...must, not, click!

The question is not 'did he click?' but rather 'how many did he select in the 'Quantity' box when he clicked?'

It looks a magnificent beast in the glass case of the gadget shop. Ģ50 they want for it over here - about $75 at the current exchange rate so you'd be getting it cheaper than I can.

Steve

I managed to abstain...but only because I'm dead sure something NEW is coming, and my Aircraft Carrier is getting crowded:

This is the "Flight ready" shelf. I need to up-date my inventory on my blog page, been a lot of new arrivals, and new toys on order.

Just got back from Fry's (just 'walking away" while my paint dried), no new choppers, in fact, none of my faves they usually carry- the 8818 and 6020 non-gyros- were there. I wonder what's next? I hope it's low-cost S107 clones!

What I did get was more wire tag numbers, so I can put airframe #'s on these new guys. I can't tell the three new s107's, or the 2 new Chinooks (always capitalize that!) apart at all.

One Chinook is getting the black-paint, for sure.

Great review! You still have it... If Syma would read this you should get the big one for free! I already ordered one and with 14g payload it should be able to lift my keychain camera.

Darkstar.

Ah, it can lift, but not carry*. No worry, the body is 10g, so you can pare away weight easily. It will fly with the body removed, but the graphite chassis rods must be glued first.

*This was determined by attaching (double stick tape by 3M) the Chinook (always capitalize that!) to a gram scale, zero-ing it, and going full bore. Max reading minus helicopter weight is number stated.

The Chinook weighs 45.9g.
If you tape a US nickle (5g) to the bottom, she can still lift off and maneuver. So nix'ing another 5g off the body carefully, you got your 10g camera mount.